Madrone Canyon to add luxury homes in wealthy area

A luxury housing project is rising on a 140-acre canyon in Bee Cave where developers are touting unparalleled Hill Country views.

Ames Design Build LLC is behind the development, called Madrone Canyon, which will be home to more than 100 residences. Ames Design Build owner Brett Ames is also the founder and managing principal of Inspire Development, which is behind the $2 billion mixed-use Pearson Ranch development in southern Williamson County.

Madrone Canyon will feature a mix of custom and spec homes, Ames said. Lot prices begin in the high $400,000 range, while homes are expected to range from $3 million to over $5 million, according to an Oct. 10 announcement. The development will add more pricy homes to a ZIP code that’s already among the wealthiest in the metro.

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Ames Design Build

The homes will rise on 140 acres south of State Highway 71. In total, there will be 110 homes built on lots spanning up to an acre. Homes will range from about 4,500 to 6,500 square feet, Ames said. There are also some custom homes underway that are going to be roughly 7,000 square feet, he said.

The 78669 ZIP code, where Madrone Canyon is located, ranked No. 18 out of 85 on ABJ’s latest list of the wealthiest Austin-area ZIP codes. The median household income there was $110,573, and the median value of owner-occupied homes was $460,100, based on 2021 data.

Construction of Madrone Canyon’s roads began in late 2021 and wrapped up in April, Ames said, with some of the homes starting construction before the road work was complete. There have been at least four move-ins already, even with much of the development’s homes still to be built.

In addition to Ames Design Build, Sendero Homes and Eppright Homes are also building in Madrone Canyon. Ames will build on 45 lots, Sendero on 33 and Eppright on 32.

Micah VanDover, a realtor with Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty, is representing Ames in the sale of Madrone Canyon homes.

Madrone Canyon isn’t the only luxury housing development springing up in the metro.

Houston-based Unicus Developments is building its 5.5-acre Five development south of West Lake Hills, where homes start at $12.5 million. In Central Austin’s Brentwood neighborhood, co-developers Cascade Homes and Urbane Roost are developing an eight-home infill luxury project, and the first phase of construction for the sprawling 2,200-acre Thomas Ranch near Spicewood is underway.

Last year, the Austin metro became Texas’ second largest luxury real estate market, with 3,564 homes sold for $1 million or more, according to data from Texas Realtors. Only Dallas-Fort Worth had more million-dollar home sales, with 4,689 in 2022. For context, the median home sale price in the city of Austin in August was $541,000, according to Austin Board of Realtors data.

There’s also a new realty agency in town with a major focus on the luxury market. Christie’s International Real Estate, which has handled about $500 billion in transactions over the past five years and is connected to the eponymous famous auction house, will debut in Austin later this fall, the company announced Sept. 21. The affiliated local brokerage will be owned and run by Jerry Mooty Jr. with the backing of the Jerry Jones family, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Mooty, Jones’ nephew, also owns Christie’s offices in Dallas and Frisco.